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***Editor's Note: Normally, when I publish in countries other than my own, I like to address the public in their own language, but I cannot do so here since Hungarian is not one of the languages I know. In fact, it's quite vexing that I can't even apologize for that in Hungarian, but we all have limitations. Despite this being in English, I hope there are some who will still be able to enjoy it and perhaps translate it for your countrymen. It is posted here since Hungary is one of the biggest countries in eRepublik.

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Since eRepublik’s Insider came out yesterday (here: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/some-erepublik-updates-1003824/1/20), there have been numerous opinions voiced on the fact that signing a mutual protection pact (MPP) will now cost a country one hundred gold rather than the previous thirty.

So why am I writing about this again? Simply because I’d like to propose an additional solution that may not have been considered and that I haven’t seen discussed in the various newspapers of the world.

Generally speaking, instead of there being a fixed cost to sign an MPP, there could be a variable one. Similar to how the cost of invasion of a region varies depending on the number of people living in it, the cost of an MPP could similarly be determined. It doesn’t necessarily have to be population-related, but it certainly is an option. Here is a small list I’ve come up with:

1. The population of a country.
2. The number of regions held.
3. The number of MPPs currently in effect.
4. The “average strength” of the citizenry as determined in a country’s information page.

How would this work using an example?

#1 – Population

a) Country A and B want to sign an alliance.
b) A has 15000 population, B has 1000 population.
c) The cost of an MPP is set at 1 gold per 50 population (for example).
d) Each country pays: its population / 50 = cost of an MPP in gold
e) Therefore, A pays 15000 / 50 = 300 gold; and B pays 1000 / 50 = 20 gold

#2 – Regions

a) Country A and B want to sign an alliance.
b) A has 30 regions, B has 3 regions.
c) The cost of an MPP is set at 5 gold per region (for example).
d) Each country pays: the number of regions it holds x 5
e) Therefore, A pays 30 x 5 = 150 gold; and B pays 3 x 15 = 15 gold

#3 – MPPs

a) Country A and B want to sign an alliance.
b) A has 10 MPPs, B has 2 MPPs.
c) The cost of an MPP is set at 20 gold per active MPP (for example).
d) Each country pays: the number of MPP it has x 20
e) Therefore, A pays 10 x 20 = 200 gold; and B pays 2 x 20 = 40 gold

#4 – Average Strength

a) Country A and B want to sign an alliance.
b) A has an average strength of 4.16, B has an average strength of 2.60.
c) The cost of an MPP is set at 30 gold per average strength point (for example).
d) Each country pays: its average strength x 30 = cost of an MPP in gold
e) Therefore, A pays 4.16 x 30 = 125 gold; and B pays 2.60 x 30 = 78 gold

These ideas have the advantage of making the alliances more expensive in general (so as to accomplish eRepublik’s goal to make countries choose more carefully) but not disadvantage the smaller countries since relatively speaking the bigger/more powerful countries will have to shell out more to protect themselves.

So what do you think? There is plenty to discuss and debate: would you change the numbers involved, do you have other ideas to measure a country’s power, do you disagree with the very concept itself?

If you like my ideas, please subscribe to my publication and vote for this article so as to bring it to the attention of the administrators.